Conventionally, this kind of fishing reel has been proposed which is so constructed that the spool shaft is supported rotatably and axially movably between the pair of side frames and rotatably supports the spool, a drag disc opposite to a flange of the spool is supported to one end of the spool shaft so as to be axially movable relative to the spool shaft, a drag washer is interposed between the drag disc and the flange, and a contact plate opposite to the drag washer is disposed between the flange and the drag disc and is held to the flange or drag disc. The spool shaft can be axially shifted to move either the drag disc or the spool axially in order to bring the contact plate into press-contact with the drag washer. As a result, a driving force caused by rotation of a handle is transmitted to the spool through the drag mechanism and a dragging force caused by the press-contact of the contact plate with the drag washer can be adjusted to adjust a resistance against free rotation of the spool.
The drag washer and contact plate in such reel come into contact with each other at respective surfaces thereof which are flat and perpendicular to the axis of the spool shaft, and the contact plate is held to the surface of the drag disc or the flange such that the contact plate is in contact over its entire surface with the drag disc. Hence, the contact plate, when held with a holding means such as a set screw, will become warped, thereby creating a problem in that the contact plate makes only partial contact with the drag washer. Also, in a case where an amount of axial displacement of the spool shaft is increased to intensify the dragging force, the drag disc subjected thereto deflects to move away from the spool flange, resulting in that the contact surfaces of the contact plate and the drag washer move at radially outward portions thereof away from each other and contact only at radially inward portions with each other, whereby full face contact is impossible.
Such partial contact caused by the strong dragging force will promote wearing at the radially inward portion more than at the radially outward portion, thereby creating a problem in that the friction area decreases and the maximum dragging force with respect to the press-contact strength also decreases.